Somers Residents Hear Plans for Storm Aftermath

On Tuesday night, Somers Lisa Pellegrini and her emergency management team held a special meeting to let people know how the town is dealing after the snowstorm and what the plans are going forward.

The auditorium at was standing room only and the audience came ready with questions. Several people could also be seen taking notes.

Pellegrini told the people how she declared a state of emergency at 5 p.m. on Saturday – a half hour before the governor declared one for the state – and how she opened the shelter at 11:30 p.m. that night. She said that it housed 12 people that night.

As for getting the power restored, Pellegrini said that CL&P is saying that it will be about a week, but some residents should expect it to be longer, maybe as long as two weeks.

She said that places and towns where large numbers of people could be restored at once will receive first attention – moving a small town like Somers down the priority list.

The power in town comes in from three areas: Enfield, Ellington and Stafford. These power sources converge in the center of town on Routes 190 and 83 and then are distributed from there.

“What will happen is those three areas will converge on the center and then it will spread up,” Pellegrini said. “They’re sticking to that plan.”

A small section near Routes 190 and 83 had power briefly on Monday night, but an issue caused the power to fail. A crew was in that area, working to restore that power on Tuesday night.

Food, gasoline stations and the schools are the priority areas where power should be restored first.

CL&P officials asked the town for its priorities and asked the officials to fill out a list of damaged areas.

“I was thinking, ‘If this is going to help Somers get restored, I’ll do anything,’” Pellegrini said.

So what happened was that the town was divided into six quadrants and a police officer and firefighter went to each quadrant and went to every street in it. They made note of damaged transformers and poles and counted downed wires.

The damage in town is extensive. There are eight transformers that are completely destroyed and 28 more that are damaged. There are 106 broken poles and 289 downed primary wires. CL&P had previously told the town of Somers that it had three destroyed transformers and four broken poles.

“Somers was the hardest hit, it’s like a tornado went through the entire town,” Pellegrini said. “We’re going to work together and get through this and pretty soon it’ll be a bad memory.”

While the damage is bad, all of the roads in town are passable – not necessarily completely clear – but you can at least get through.

“We cleared the roads,” Pellegrini said. “We didn’t wait for the CL&P tree company to come. We cleared the roads immediately. So now we’re at the point of, ‘come on in and plug me in.’ We’re on our own. We’ve been so proactive. If we didn’t hire the contractors and work with the state police and the fire department, the roads would not be open.”

Assistance from the National Guard has been requested, though there are limitations as to what the guard can help out with. Pellegrini said that assistance at the shelter would be greatly appreciated.

Pellegrini reminded the audience that while they wait for the power to return, the shelter is still open and potable water can be obtained from the firehouse. She also reiterated that the transfer station will be open everyday for brush that needs to be disposed of. The station will be open from 7:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

“That is free of charge, and we’ll keep doing that as long as we need to,” Pellegrini said.

If a resident is unable to dispose of the brush, it can be left on the curb, as long as it is neat and is in manageable pieces. While this is an option, the Department of Public Works encourages all who are able to dispose of their brush because it will take a very long time for DPW to collect it all.

Deputy Director of Public Works Todd Rolland said that CL&P will remove the large branches from the power lines and then the line crews will follow behind.

Chief Gary Schiessl said that trimming of the trees would not have helped much in this storm.

“The size of the trees that came down in this storm? If you want to trim all the trees off your property, that’s what it would have taken on this one,” he said. “It certainly helps on something small but not on something of this magnitude.”

Services such as Meals on Wheels and Dial-a-Ride are available to those who need them. The state police will also have someone on patrol in the town 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Pellegrini acknowledged that the longer this drags out, the more frustrated and angry people will get. She asked for patience and tolerance – especially while driving.

School has been canceled for the rest of the week and hopefully at the end of the week, there will be a better sense of whether or not school will reopen on Monday. With Tuesday being the election, Ann Logan has been in contact with Secretary of the State Denise Merrill to see what needs to be done.

Pellegrini said that volunteers have come forward to help out and she encourages anyone who would like to help to let someone know.

The town is also looking for “neighborhood captains” who will receive information and will then disseminate it to his or her neighbors. This will keep information flowing quickly and will save the town officials from having to go door to door as they have been.

Pellegrini said that she hopes to have another town-wide meeting – perhaps next week – to keep the residents informed of what is going on.

There were also a few words of warning at the meeting. If damage was done to your service box on your house in the storm, it is your responsibility to fix it. If you do not have it fixed by an electrician, you will not get power when the rest of your street does.

It is understood that many people have left their homes or will soon be leaving. A “home check request” form can be filled out and state police personnel will keep an eye on the home.

Sgt. Jose Claudio asks that should you see something suspicious, you call right away so that the situation can be checked out.

Schiessl and Deputy Chief Frank Falcone reminded residents to be cautious when using a generator. Make sure that it is properly installed, beware of fire dangers, and also beware of CO poisoning.

Falcone said that CO poisoning mimics the flu so if you start to feel ill, know you have a generator running, and feel better when you go outside, you probably have CO in your home.

Schiessl said to never put the generator in the garage or near the garage door, or anywhere else where the CO could get into your home.

“You want no possibility of it venting back into your home,” he said. “You just don’t want any possibility of it getting back into your house.”

The biggest thing that was stressed was checking on your neighbors and helping them out. If you have an elderly or invalid neighbor, please go check on them to see if they need help.

“We really need to check on our neighbors,” Claudio said. “We need to help each other out. You don’t personally have to solve the problem, you just have to check on them and contact us and we’ll be more than happy to go help.”

Falcone said that the department has already done several well being checks.